Joe Marler stars in Sky Sports documentary exploring the matter of Mental Health

11/05/2021

Big Boys Don't Cry follows the England Rugby forward as he discusses his own struggles and learns new methods of managing mental wellbeing.

Sky Sports has announced a brand new and exclusive Sky Original documentary starring rugby star Joe Marler and takes a look at the different ways people deal with poor mental health.

Big Boys Don't Cry, which first airs at 4pm on Sky Sports Arena on Wednesday 12th May - Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK - follows Marler as he travels the UK to open up conversation around mental health challenges and to learn about how people manage with their mental wellbeing, taking the plunge in freshwater swimming and getting involved in singing in a choir along the way.

Recently the England and Harlequins player has spoken about his battles with mental health during his private live and his time playing rugby on the international stage.

Marler also explained his thoughts behind making the hour-long documentary Boys Don't Cry, I wanted to meet people who, like me, had gone down their own mental health rabbit holes'. I wanted to hear about how they found their own ways of getting out of them and gain a better understanding of how mental health issues affect us all.

I hope that talking about my own mental health will get others talking about theirs and help to normalize it, especially in an alpha male-dominated sport like rugby. We are required to dominate and intimidate opposing players when we cross the white line on the pitch, we must show no weakness or vulnerability in order to win. But it doesn't have to be like that off the pitch. I want to help spread the message that many others have done already that it's okay not to be okay. And help people find the right tools to cope.

Steve Smith, Executive Director, Content at Sky Sports said, At Sky Sports we are always striving to tell interesting and powerful stories that our audience finds intriguing and can relate to. Joe Marler is one of the most recognizable rugby stars in the game and it is fantastic that we are able to tell such a personal story of his to our viewers.

Watch Joe Marler in Big Boys Don't Cry on Sky Sports Arena and NOW at 4pm on Wednesday 12th May, and throughout the week on multiple Sky Sports channels

About CALM

Joe Marler is an ambassador for CALM. Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is leading a movement against suicide through vital, life-saving support and collective action. If you're struggling, talk to CALM on 0800 58 58 58 (UK) or through their webchat. Their trained support workers are available from 5pm to midnight every day to provide practical support and advice, whatever you're going through.

Find out more at www.thecalmzone.net

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Across six countries, we connect our 23.4 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news and arts including our own award-winning original content.

Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love - with entertainment from Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer, and apps like Spotify, YouTube, BBC Sounds, Highbrow, Peloton, Fiit, and more, in one place, easy. Our streaming service NOW brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service. Through our new B2B broadband provider, Sky Connect, we offer superfast broadband with business-grade 4G back-up to small businesses in the UK.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, Sky Arts is the UK's only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which will open in 2022, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional �3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years.

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We're committed to being Europe's first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we're proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we've been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity and we've set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation. We're also committed to investing �30million across our markets over three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.

LINK:	https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/joe-marler-stars-in-sky-sports-...
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